Justice Department releases 2003 interrogation memo

By JoAnne Allen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday released a declassified 2003 memo justifying the use of harsh interrogation methods for suspected terrorists held abroad.

A subsequent decision overruled the memo which said that President George W. Bush's authority as commander-in-chief superseded international law regarding wartime interrogations.

The Pentagon, unlike the intelligence community, specifically prohibited its interrogators from using certain harsh methods, including a simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding. That prohibition was outlined in an update to the Army field manual released in 2006.

The 81-page memo, dated March 14, 2003, was written before that field manual release by then Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo to Pentagon General Counsel William Hayes.

Yoo wrote: "We concluded that different canons of construction indicate that generally applicable criminal laws do not apply to the military interrogation of alien unlawful combatants held abroad.

"Were it otherwise, the application of these statutes to the interrogation of enemy combatants undertaken by military personnel would conflict with the president's commander-in-chief power."

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy has asked the White House to declassify secret Justice Department opinions on interrogation practices. The declassification of the memo was "a small step forward," said Leahy, a Vermont Democrat.

"The memo they have declassified today reflects the expansive view of executive power that has been the hallmark of the administration," he said in a statement.